You have probably started many weeks of dieting throughout your life. A few days of eating very little, and back to normal. That entails two things: you are not maintaining a complete and varied diet over time, and on top of that, you are not getting the effect on your body that you are looking for. In this week in which World Food Day has been commemorated, we are going to lay the foundations of what a healthy diet should be. It’s much easier than it sounds, with delicious foods that you can eat every day that will make you say goodbye to dieting.
A good way to internalize these 4 objectives in your day-to-day life is to constantly visualize them. How? Easy, with a ‘vision board’ of healthy eating.
Goodbye ultra-processed
Don’t just think of industrial pastries or pre-cooked food, because there are many foods that you consume in your day-to-day life that are part of the ultra-processed group. Sugary drinks, convenience foods, or prepared sauces are high in refined sugar . Also margarine, although many think that it is healthier than natural butter. The same happens with instant soup versus homemade ones, and with cakes or biscuits that are usually bought in stores.
They are industrialized products full of additives, sugars, ‘trans’ fats and chemicals that rapidly damage our health. Although many people prefer them because they feel that they bring them “satisfaction”, it is important to understand that these types of products generate short-term satisfaction and long-term deterioration . They generate fast spikes in sugar and energy that go away as fast as they have come. Once you understand this –and if you are one of those who value your wellbeing–, you will begin to associate ultra-processed foods with poor health, causing your own subconscious to reject them and avoid placing them in your shopping cart.
Sugar: sweet poison
With refined sugar, something similar happens to ultra-processed ones, which are characterized by their high sugar content. Remember that it is a short-term “pleasant” sensation that triggers a roller coaster of hormones in your body and that eventually ends up wearing you down and producing metabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes . In addition, refined sugar or sugary foods encourage you to eat more . One of the ways can be explained using the phrase “everything that goes up, goes down” . How? Well, these products make blood glucose (sugar) levels rise sharply, stimulating excessive insulin production.
One of the main problems is that practically all processed products contain refined sugar even though they seem apparently healthy. The best solution is to make fermented foods, sweets, sauces, and other preparations at home. And if they need a sweet touch, you can use natural sweeteners such as coconut sugar, panela, stevia or raw honey.
Refined carbohydrates: the less the better
Eating foods rich in processed and refined carbohydrates produces the same effect on our body as sugar, so beware! Pasta, rice, or bread contain fast-absorbing carbohydrates, much worse for the body than the slow carbohydrates in fruit or vegetables. When you consume a banana, you will be satiated and with energy in the long term than if you consume a piece of bread .
But of course, how do you substitute bread, pasta or rice? You can make bread with quinoa or almond flour, just as you can substitute rice for quinoa. And instead of the traditional spaghetti with tomato sauce from a jar, it is better to resort to some zucchini zoodles with homemade tomato sauce, which are also very fashionable.
Fats are welcome: they are not harmful
Surely you have been seeing bad publicity for fats everywhere for many years. However, there are many studies that deny that fat is our enemy. Unlike! They are a better source of energy than carbohydrates since they do not alter our blood sugar levels . In addition, they are the main essential macronutrient that our body needs. And, unlike carbohydrates, they take longer to digest and provide longer-term energy than any other food.